Thermostatic cut-out eor gas valves



July 24, 1928. 1,678,169

R. H. sHADRlcK THERMOSTATIC CUT-OUT FOR GAS VALVES Filed g 1 1925 ZSheets-Sheet 1 4o y 37 45 g l www July 24. 1928.

- R. H. sHADRlcK' THERMOSTATIC CUT*OUT FOR`GAS VALVES Filed Aug. 14. 1925 2 shams-sheet 2 vzo Patented July 24, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE.

RICHARD Hi. SHADRICK, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO .ANDREW E.

CARLSEN, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. n

THERMOSTATIC CUT-OUT FOR GAS VALVES.

Application led August 14, 1925. Serial No. 50,246.

yThis invention relates primarily to attachments for gas heaters of hot water heating systems,fand the main objectis to provide a novel, ellicient and practical device for pre-` .toy ignite it. Further and more specific objects will be disclosedin the course of the following specifications, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly in sect-ion, of a device embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a detail elevation of the gas valve operating mechanism, with xportions broken out for purpose of illustration. p

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation similarv to Figure 2, but showing the valve mechanism as in its tripped or oft position.

Figure 4 is a cross section as on the line 4.--4 in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a sectional view as on the line 5--5 in Figure 2, fractional portions being broken away.

Tle heater, gas connections and gas valve actuating mechanism illustrated in the drawings is substantially similar to the corresponding elements shown in my co-pending application for patent, Serial No. 734,180, led on August 26th, 1924, for heater control, and may be described as follows:

A designates the casing ofa heater having a burner B, and a coil C, which is circuitously connected, with a storage tank (not shown), the water of which is circulated through and heated in the coil C by the flame from the burner B; TheburnerB is supplied with gas by a pipe E, into which is cut the valve F. This valve F is of astandard type in which a valve plug 6 is yieldingly held in a closed position by a spring 7 and is adapted to be opened by the depression of a stem 8 which slidably projects, through a` suitable packing joint 9, to the 'exterior of the valve body proper.l A small valve 10, which is connected with af pilot light 11 (adjacent to the burner'. B) by a. tube 12, is secured to the valve F, and communicates with the intake Side .thereof so that the pilot will be kept burning at all times, and thus beinreadiness 'to light the heater burner whenever the main gas valve 6 is opened.

` Rigidly secured upon the valve F is a casing Gr having a standard or partition 13, provided at its upper end with an -extension 14. Slidably journaled in the standard 13 and in a plate 25, adjacent the end wall 16 of the casing G,anddirectly over the valve stem 8 is a shaft 17, the outer end of which is angularly bent, as at 18, whereby the shaft may be oscillated. The shaft 17 is provided with a'cam 19, which is normally positioned directly over the pin 8, and is yieldingly retained in that position by a spring 20.

suitable stop such as an enlargement 'or shoulder 21 of the shaft 17 prevents the lcam from being moved inwardly from the pin or ,r Under normal or idle conditions, the valve 6 isv closed, and the arm 18 is in a downward position, being held so by suitable means such as a weight W, (see Fig. 1). The arm 18 is elevated and the valve 6 is opened (by the action of the cam 19) by a pull chainor cable 24, which leads to a remote point or station, located for instance as in a kitchen or bath room, and thus the burner is lighted, it being understood, that the pilot light 11 is lit. It is found, however, that pilot lights such as shown as 11, are not always' dependable and will occasionally go out, either because of drafts, or due to the accumulation of carbon, and for other reasons: and under such circumstances, it will be seen that unless 1 there is some way of notifying the operator, the gas owing through the burner will not be ignited and will escape with possibly dangerous consequences.

To overcome the objections last above mentioned, I slightly alter the construction shown in my previouslymentioned application, and provide, in addition thereto, a thermostatically controlled mechanism for renderin the pilot light, for an;r reason, goes out.

the valve actuator inoperative when I Thus, instead of journaling the outer end of the shaft 17 directly in the wall 16, li journal it in a bearing plate 25, which is slidable with respect to and yieldingly held against the wall by the spring 20. rilhe wall is then provided with a slot 26 through which the shaft extends and which permits a slight up and down movement of the outer portion of the shaft. The wall 16 is also provided with a second slot 2'( through which a lip 28 of the plate extends aiid is guided.

rlhe lip 28 is normally engaged and held down by a hook 29 of a lever 30 which is pivotally secured, as at 31, on the wall 16. A spring 32 is associated with the leve-r 30 in such a manner as to tend to disengage the hook 29 from the lip 28, but this engagement is normally maintained by a wire or cable 33, the upper eiid of which is secured to ai lever 34.

The lever 34 is pivoted, as at 35, to a post l 36 which is carried by a frame member 37,

secured on the heater casing A by a bolt 38. Rigidly secured to the post 36 is a bar of static metal.v which quickly 'changes itsy shape under diereiit temperatures.

lWhen the pilot light 11 is lit so that the heat imparted by the barI 39 to the member 41 is within certain limits, the strip 41 will be in the full line position shown in Figure 1, and when in said position, the strip 41 engagesa trigger member 42, pivoted at 43, and prevents it from being swung inwardly. The lower end of the member 42 has a hook or finger 44 which normally engages the outer end of the lever 34 and prevents it from being pulled downwardly by the wire 33.

When the pilot light, for any reason, goes out, it will be seen that as the bar 39 cools the strip of thermostatic metaly 41 will also cool and will retract upwardly to the dotted line position. And when this occurs the trigger 42 will swing inwardly and Will release the lever 34 and connection 33, allowing the spring 32 to disengage the hook l29 from the lip 28. Now if the operator pulls the chain or cable 24 to light the heater, the cam 19 will not press the valve stem down to open the valve, but will merely raise the shaft 17 and plate 25 to the position shown ign Figure 3, thus leaving the valve closed. if theoperator does not notice the absence oie the resistance pulls the 4pull chain, he will soon lind that something needs no hot water in response to theusual lighteat conducting material 39, the inner end.v

by the spring .7, when he adjustment as there will be ing operation. lt will then be necessary for him to relight the -pilot and restore the various partsto their" positions as shown in F igure 1 of the drawing. lt may here be noted that a set screw 45 is arranged for adjusting the angle. or position of the strip 41 with respect to the bar39. lt may also be' noted that the entire tliermostatic mechanism, with the exception of the inner end of the bar 39, is located outside of the heater casing, the object being to prevent the mechanism from being damaged or distorted by. the intense heat of the main burner B.

It is understood that various modifications may be made in tlie general design and structural details of the invention as herein illustrated and described, providing, however, that such modifications come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Having now, therefore, fully shown and described my invention, what I claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is f 1. The combination with a heater, having a main burner and a pilot burner, of a valve to. control the supply of gas to the main burner, a rotatable cam having a cam face normally held in engagement with the valve to open and close the same, means for manually actuating the cam, and thermostatically operated means iniuenced by the pilot burner for releasing the cam from its normal position so as to render it ineii'ective for opening the valve.

2. The combination with a heater, having a main burner and a pilot burner, of a valve to control the supply of gas to the main burner, a rotatable cam having a cam face normally held in .'slidable engagement with the valve to open and .close the same, a movable bearing member for normally retaining the cam in Aits operating position, and a ther- .mostatic mechanism associated with the pilot Y burner and said bearing member for releasing the latter from its normal position when the pilot burner is extinguished.

3. The combination of a main burner, a pilot burner, a valve for controlling the supply of fuel to the main burner, able cam for opening and closing the valve, a bearing member for holding the cam in its operative position, said bearing member being releasably secured in an initial or opera-l tive position by a catch member, and means associated with the pilot burner to withdrawthe catch and release the bearing member whereby to render the cam ineffective for opening the valve. v t

4. The combination of a main burner, a pilot burner, a valve for controlling the suply of uel to the main burner, an actua-tor or opening and closing the valve, a lever for normally retaining the actuator in an operative position, a trigger for holding the leverv in vits normal-position, and a' strip of theran oscillatmost-atic metal rigidly secured at one end near the pilot burner, so as to be influenced thereby, said trigger being arranged'so as to releasably engage endwise against the opposite or movable end of said strip.

5. The combination of a main burner, a pilot burner, a valve for controlling the supply of fuel to the main burner, an `actuator for opening and closing the valve, a lever for normally retaining the actuator in an operative position, a trigger for holding the lever in its normal position, and a strip of thermostatic metal rigidly secured at one end near the pilot burner so as to be influenced thereby, said trigger being arranged so as to releasably engage the other end of the strip whereby it will be tripped to release the lever when the strip is contracted by being cooled.

6. The combination with a heater having a casing, and a main burner and a pilot burner within the casing, of a valve for controlling the supply of fuel to the main burner, an actuator for opening the valve, a heat conducting bar secured outside of and extending into the casing adjacent to the pilot burner, a temperaturev responsive element, in contact with the bar portion outside the casing so as not to be subjected to the heat of the main burner, a tripping mechanism associated with the temperature responsive element and the valve actuator, whereby when the pilot burner is extinguished, the valve actuator will be rendered inoperative for opening the valve.

7. The combination with a heater, having a casing, and a main burner and a pilot burner within the casing, of a valve for controlling the sup ly of fuel to the main burn'- er, an actuator or opening the valve, a heat conducting bar secured outside of and extending into the casing adjacent to the pilot burner, a temperature responsive element in Contact with the bar and arranged entirely outside the casing, a tripping mechanism associated with the temperature responsive element and the valve actuator, said mechanism comprising a trigger, a lever releasably retained by the trigger, and a latch member connected with said lever.

8. The combination of a main burner, a'

' the actuator and render it inoperative, and

means influenced by the pilot burner for releasably retaining the valve actuator in its operative position. p

9. The combination ofa main burner, a pilot burner, a valve for the main burner, an actuator associated with the valve for opening the same, a spring tending to disengage the actuator and render it inoperative, and a thermostatically controlled device associated with the pilot burner for releasably securing the actuator in its operative position, whereby when the pilot burner is extinguished, the1 actuator will be rendered inoperative by the spring.

l0. The combination with a heater casing having a main burner and a pilot burner therein, of a valve for controlling the supply of fuel to the main burner, a heat conducting bar extending through the casing so that its inner end may be influenced by the pilot burner, a thermally responsive element located outside of the casing and associated with the outer end of the bar so as to be influenced by the temperature thereof and be removed from substantial influence by the heat of the main burner, and means, controlled by the thermally responsive element, for closing the valve supplying fuel to the. main burner, when the pilot burner is extinguished so as to cool the heat conducting bar. 11. The combination with a heater having a main burner, of a yieldingly closed valve to control the supply of fuel to the main burner, a valve actuator having primary and secondary positions, manually operable means for moving the actuator when in its primary position, to open the valve, and thermally responsive means, including a lever and a strip of thermostatic metal, for eiiecting a movement of the actuator to its secondary position whereby it will be rendered inoperative for the purpose ofbpening the valve.

12. The combination with a main burner and a pilot for the same, of a normally closed valve for controlling the supply of fuel to the main burner, a valve actuator having operative and inoperative positions and normally held in its operative position, manually operated means for moving the actuator, when in its operative position, to effect opening of the valve, and thermostatically controlled means, influenced by the pilot burner, for elfecting a movement of the actuator to its secondary position,

whereby the manually operated means will 13. The combination with a burner, of a` normally closed valve for controlling the supply `of fuel to the burner, a valve actuator having operative andinoperative positions and normally held in its operative position, manually operated means for moving the actuator, when in its operative position, to effect opening of the valve, and thermostatically controlled means, including a trigger mechanism and a strip of thermostatic metal, for effecting a movement of the actuator to its secondary position lwhereby they manually operated means will be rendered ineifective for operating the actuator to open the valve.

i 14. The combination with a main burner and a pilot burner, of a yieldingly closed valve for controlling the supply of fuel to the main burner, a rotatable actuator, a bearing for said actuator having primary and secondary positions, means for rotating the actuator whereby it Will open the valve when the bearing is in said primary position, and thermostatically controlled means inuenced by the pilot burner to eect a movement of the bearing to its secondary position, whereupon a movement of the actuator will be rendered ineffective for opening the valve.

l5. The combination with a heater having a main burner and a pilot burner, of a valve to control the supply of gas to the main burner2 said valve having a projecting stem, an oscillatable cam lacting member having a cam acting surface for engagement with the end of the stem, a latch for normally holding saidl cam member in an operative position, and thermostatically controlled means, inuenced by the pilotburner. for releasing the latch to render the oscillatable member ineffective for opening the valve.

En testimony whereof I aihx my signature.

VRICHARD H. SHADRICK. 

